Afterwords -- unconquerable
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)
July 6, 2023
Dear friends,
The photo above is from a couple of years back when my wife and I, along with some of our grown children, made a hike up to Bald Knob near Mountain Lake. We sat and enjoyed the vista of the mountains and valley around us! So, in my Bible reading, I've hiked up the mountain peak of Romans chapter 8, and have been relishing the breath-taking view of God's plan for us (and all of creation) through Christ. Because of the work of the Triune God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- we who are believers are secure in God's triumphant grace, and this will ultimately usher in "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Pet 3:13)
CREATION GROANS, AND SO DO WE. Along with the children of God, creation itself "groans" (or "sighs longingly for") the glory of God to be revealed in a new, incorruptible creation. Creation groans (v 22), we groan (v 23), and we are told that the Holy Spirit also groans (v 26). Likely, the intended image here is that of the labor pains of childbirth, as we still reside in this present fallen world awaiting our Lord's return. That the Holy Spirit also groans means that he is present with us, relating personally to us in our labor and struggle, as we prepare for the world to come.
OUR HELPER. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us [Gr., συναντιλαμβάνομαι] in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings" (8:26 NET). This is a different word for helper that John uses in his Gospel -- “Helper, Counselor, Advocate” (Jn 14:26ff), which is the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos), which may be familiar to you. The word Paul uses is similar, but with a difference. It occurs only a few times in the Bible. It seems to stress more the presence of hands-on strength, joining in and helping to bear a burden. In the LXX (Greek OT) the word is used of those who came alongside Moses to "help bear the burden" of his leadership in a practical way (Ex 18:22; Num 11:17; see also Ps 89:21). In the NT it is used of the kind of help Martha was asking Jesus to recruit Mary for (Lu 10:40). In other words, Martha was overwhelmed and needed someone to lend a hand, so "tell my sister to help me." Lexicons define the word as "to grasp hold of together" (Friberg) or "to help by joining in an activity or effort" (Louw-Nida) or "to lay hold along with, to strive to obtain with others, to help in obtaining" (Thayers).
I'm not trying to be geeky with Greek here, but trying to highlight that some words that we might quickly read over in English, like this one, may have a deeper nuance than merely "to help." What struck me is that the "helping" ministry of the Holy Spirit means he personally, actually, enters into our struggle with us, and helps bear our burdens as we face the spirit of the world, the flesh, and the devil. He is "sighing longingly" for our sanctification and the new creation. In this way he intercedes for us with Father, and the Father knows the mind of the Spirit, and hence, what it is we need even when we don't know what we need.
THE TRINITY AT WORK. Our sanctification is a kind of suffering, along with the rejection we experience from the world. It's compared to labor pains. But the Father has ordained the plan of redemption from beginning to end (Rom 8:28-30), and this, without losing any of his children along the way (John 6:37-39; 10:27-29). The Lord Jesus accomplished our salvation, and with him our every need is supplied by grace (8:31-39). And finally, the Holy Spirit is present with us to share the burden of this struggle (8:1-27). The triune God is at work to take poor, lost, rebellious sinners like you and me, and by grace to bring us into his kingdom and "the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (8:21). And he will accomplish it. Francis Schaeffer emphasized the security of the believer seen in this passage:
"You won’t be lost again. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’ll be there on resurrection day. Weak and infirm though you may feel, faltering though your love may often be, you’ll be there. For it does not rest upon you, it rests upon the work of the whole Trinity. The Holy Spirit would have to fail for you to be lost again. His intercession for you would have to be of no avail. Well might the sun grow dark or the universe turn into a chaos, but this one thing you can know for sure: The Holy Spirit is interceding before God’s throne on your behalf, and He will not fail in His work of intercession. Some people talk of the 'perseverance of the saints' as though it were some mechanical thing. But it isn’t like this at all. It is a living, vibrant thing as 'the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.'” (--The Finished Work of Christ)
MORE THAN CONQUERERS. So Paul draws to a conclusion this section with the resounding words, Romans 8:37 "...in all these things we are more than conquerors [Gr., ὑπερνικῶμεν; used only here in the NT] through him who loved us." This word denotes an overwhelming or surpassing victory, a complete win. We are "more than conquerors" not because we have always had victory over the things of this world, the flesh, and the devil, but because none of God's children will ever be lost, and at the end we will be resurrected in the entirety of a new, incorruptible body, soul, and spirit. In this way, God's people are truly unconquerable!
READING & LISTENING TO...
-- "The relationship between a powerful movement of spiritual renewal and the healing of American society was anything but simple." (Historian Mark Noll, on learning from the history of American Methodism.)
-- Longtime friend, fellow Hokie and Dallas Seminary grad, has expanded his writing forte into Science Fantasy.
-- Enjoying "Gratitude," as performed by I Am They, who also performed at BCF a few years back. My daughter likes the Brandon Lake version, and to be fair, he wrote the song. We also like Lauren Daigle's "Thank God, I Do. (But, man, that's a lot of flowers!)
-- Speaking of the beauty of God's creation, enjoy this poem by Thomas Traherne (1636--1674)...
Observe those rich and glorious things,
The rivers, meadows, woods, and springs,
The fructifying sun;
To note from far
The rising of each twinkling star
For us his race to run.
(Thomas Traherne)
FINAL QUOTE. "All the Holy Spirit's influences are heaven begun, glory in the seed and bud." (Matthew Henry)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.